EUROPE’S BEACON OF LIGHT-
With cheap ticket prices and sound financial management of clubs and the league in general, is the Bundesliga the direct opposite of the other four major leagues in Europe?
In Germany, the fan is king. The Bundesliga has the lowest ticket prices and the highest average of Europe’s five major leagues. At Borussia Dortmund, the giant stand holds 26000 and costs a little more than 10 pounds for admission.
The clubs in Germany limit the number of season tickets to ensure that everyone has a chance to see the games, and the away team has the right to 10% of the available capacity. Match tickets double as there is free rail pass, not forgetting the free beers to wash down the free sausages, and English fans especially, can only dream of this philosophy.
The Bundesliga may be Europe’s only fit and proper football league yet no German team has won the Uefa Champions League in eleven years. This success rate, though could have changed if Bayern Munich had won the Uefa Champions League against Chelsea in the final.
The Bundesliga as a brand, a competition in good shape, is evident to the fact that, match day revenue is 424 million euros, sponsorship receipts is 573m euros and broadcast income, 594 million euros has been the main contributor to the Bundesliga’s 1.7 billion euros turnover.
In England, there is Portsmouth dice with extinction, Manchester City incurring the highest loss in the league last season (2011/2012) by a record of 197m pounds, followed by Chelsea. More so, Manchester United continue to build their mammoth debt mountains, so it wasn’t surprising when the club was recently put on the New York Stock Exchange, even at a discounted price.
In Spain, debts are just as high, causing La Liga players to go on strike because of unpaid wages and problems with TV rights sharing among the clubs. The stadia in Italy are always half-filled, and in France their clubs spend more of their income on players’ wages than those of any country. I mean 71% of their income.
However, these cheap ticket prices and sound financial management of clubs has made the prospect of any and all clubs mounting realistic tilt of title win in the Bundesliga. Meaning, you never know who is going to be crowned as champions. As with three different clubs have been cup winners and champions.
Is the Bundesliga Europe’s beacon of light?
